Seekers
by 00zau
Summary: Zero Two and Hiro, reborn in the distant future, must fight to find each other as an old threat re-emerges.
1. Prologue

My earliest memories, before anything I remember of my actual life, are of my dreams. I dreamed of a giant tree. A snowstorm. And something red. Despite how often I have these dreams, and how real they seem there's something hazy about them. Something I can't seem to see properly.

Something missing.

…

My mom says I'm 'rambunctious.' That I'm always running off on my own. She wonders why I can't stay still, why I'm never happy staying in one place. Everyone says the way I run around looks like I'm searching for something. People are always asking what I've lost so they can help me find it.

I wish I knew, too.

…

We visited a museum as a field trip a few days ago. There are four huge statues out front. The signs say they used to be able to move. That night I dreamed that there were five of them.

…

I think what I'm looking for is a person. I'm sure that I'm looking for something now. Even in my dreams, I'm wandering alone, looking for it. But in my dreams, I'm not looking at stuff. I'm just looking at people's faces. Except in my dreams, they don't have them. Whenever I have that dream, I see blank, featureless faces on everyone, but I always wake up seeing green eyes, just like my own.

…

I think what's missing in my dream is a person. It's what I can't remember right, the red thing under the snowy tree. Sometimes I'm chasing it, sometimes I'm leading it, sometimes we both just sit there. But when I wake up, I can't recall anything else about them.

…

My mom goes walking with me a lot. I think she does it to let me search for what, or who, I'm looking for. We go all over the place, and she lets me decide where most of the time. I don't know if it's helping, because most of the time I don't feel like I'm any closer no matter what direction we go.

…

I found a picture book at a store. It was simply made, but the artwork was beautiful. The story seems unfinished. The end has different art than the rest and no words, and the last pages are blank other than a sketch that I think is of one of the characters. Even so, it reminds me of my dream somehow. I've been poring over it repeatedly.

…

I think something has changed, like the person I'm searching for is clearer now. My mom says my wandering is going in the same direction most of the time now. That just makes me want to go out even more, though.

…

There's a tree in the center of the city, near the museum with the big statues. It's really big, and it feels like the center of the world. It's not the one from my dream though. Even so, when I sit under it I get this feeling like things are falling into place. My dreams have trees like this one in them now, too, only smaller. The red person isn't always red anymore, either.

…

There was no school today, so we went on a really long walk, much further than we'd gone before. I even got tired out. Before we turned back though, I saw something even further into the city; a massive tree covered in flowers the same color as my hair. I told my mom I want to go there next time. I feel like what I'm searching for is closer than ever before.

…

I brought the book to the tree today. It feels like I was acting out a scene from my dream, and it made things clearer than ever before. That person in my dream was a girl. Even though she wasn't the same in every dream, I know it was the same girl, always the same age as I was in a given dream.

…

We finally got to see the tree! It's huge, with a trunk that seems to take up half the block. I want to see what's on the other side. It feels like it's so close I can touch it.

…

A girl came darting around the base of the tree as I sat trying to recall my dream. She tripped on a tree root, breaking me out of my thoughts and causing me to look toward her in alarm.

…

I tripped as I came around the tree, as I fell, something caught my eye. I turned as soon as I stopped falling, and

…

Everything clicked into place at last. I saw her face, and she was the girl from my dream. Not exactly the same, there was something that the girl in the dreams had that she doesn't, but I knew it was her anyway.

…

There was a boy sitting under the tree. Looking at me right as I fell, I saw his eyes. Green. The same green as mine.

…

Time stood still for an instant as we gazed at eachother. I asked her what her name was, at the same instant she asked for mine. It felt like I was in one of my dreams again. We just sat there and talked until her mom took her home. I don't even remember what we talked about, I just remember her. My dreams that night weren't hazy at all. I know exactly what was missing from them now.

Her.

…

We talked and talked until my mom had to nearly drag me home. She said she'd never seen get along with another kid like that. I made her promise to take me back to the tree again. I've found what I was searching for.

Him.

…

I go back to the tree every couple of days. I haven't seen the girl again so far, but I know it's only a matter of time until I meet her again. I can feel it. I don't know what this all means, but I know that everything made sense finally when I was with her.

…

I haven't seen him again, even though we go back to the tree whenever we can make the time. I'm not worried though. I've found him once, I'm sure I'll find him again. Now that I know what I was looking for, it'll only be easier.

Author's Notes: I'm planning to leave this as a one-shot for now. I have and idea percolating for a full-on sequel to DitF, but I don't have all the threads pinned down enough to commit to even starting it yet, especially given that I haven't made any progress on my first fic in a long time. I think this can stand on its own open-ended nature for now, though.


	2. Chapter 1

Achtung!

If you're just here for more warm and fuzzies like the first chapter, you might want to steer clear, and pretend that was just a one shot. This is aiming to be more or less a full-on sequel to DitF, and it's not going to be all happy going. You've been warned.

…

Two teenagers sat in a waiting room. The boy's shaggy black hair concealed his eyes as he gazed at the clock on his PDA. Only a few more minutes until the treatment.

The girl sitting anxiously next to him, spurred on by his small movement, finally turned to face him, asking merely "Why?"

"Why what?" was the monotone response.

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself, Hiro? They're breaking you. And for what? Why do you let them keep hurting you, just so you can pilot?"

"Because I need to… be here. On the carrier."

"What's so important to you about being here? Please. Watching you do this to yourself hurts. It's breaking you apart. We're all worried about you." _I'm worried about you_ went unsaid.

Hiro finally showed some vestige of emotion. His face clouded as he concentrated his thoughts. "I… I don't know either", he concluded, but then resolve flashed on his face. "It doesn't matter. I know it's something important. I will stay here, whatever it takes. Please, Cho, just leave it at that. Okay?"

Cho seemed ready to argue the point further, but a door opened and the familiar face of a doctor came through. "Hiro, they're ready for you," she stated, and Hiro quickly stood and marched toward the door. The doctor didn't hurry to follow. Seeing that, once again, Cho had come along as well, she sighed slightly and sat in the seat that Hiro had just vacated.

"You need to quit beating yourself up over Hiro, Cho."

"Doctor Sara, why is Hiro still in the duo piloting program? Really. Doing this is killing him." Cho's eyes were starting to tear up, the meager façade she'd kept up in front of Hiro crumbling. "What benefit is there in keeping him here?"

"We've been over this before, Cho," Sara replied wearily, "Hiro has the highest sync potential we've ever measured. It's been almost 17 years since we discovered that the VIRM weren't fully defeated, and we need to be ready for them if we encounter them again."

"Yeah, I know, that's why the _Bifrost_ was built in the first place. But where does Hiro factor into all that?"

"The Doppelsoldners are going to be critical to any fighting, and we don't have many of them. Building the next _Bifrost-_ class carrier is a priority, and we can't trade out too many of our Einherjar anyway. We need the best pilots possible, and Hiro could be _the_ best pilot, if we can keep him synced with anyone long enough. And studying him while we do could help us increase others scores, as well. Hiro could be a key factor in winning the war we're facing. I know it seems cruel, but needs must when the devil dances".

With that, she stood to leave, but Cho tried one last approach. "What happened to this being an 'all volunteer' force?" she asked plaintively, tears beginning to flow freely now.

Before going through the door, Sara turned back and shot a meaningful look to Cho.

"I think you already know the answer to that one, too" was all she said before the door closed behind her.

…

 _I once knew where my life was headed. I'd finally found what I was looking for. But now…_

 _-System timing out-_

 _-Einherjar shutting down-_

 _-Pilot-system integration below activation level-_

 _The pilot blinked against the light and disorientation as the testbed cracked open and their mind was booted back into their own body instead of the simulated robot body they had been trying to connect to._

That same pilot now stood outside, looking at a slip of paper.

"Due to low synchronization aptitude, the SDF does not require your service. Thank you."

"Does not require your service."

The paper crumpled and the former pilot's fist shook.

Zero Two slammed her empty fist into the wall, and hot, angry tears rolled off her face.

…

As soon as she arrived back at her family's apartment, she turned the TV on to a random station and turned up the volume until it was nearly painful. When she subsequently dove onto the couch and screamed into the pillow for all she was worth, the TV succeeded in covering the noise.

Eventually her voice grew hoarse, and her eyes painfully dry, and she fell into an exhausted sleep after wearing herself out, attempting to fall out of the real world. For what felt like the first time in ages, she dreamt.

A jumble of images assailed her. They felt like fragments of memories, yet were nothing like anything she'd ever experienced. Eventually the whirl slowed down, and she found herself watching a true memory, something she had seen before. One of her most cherished memories, but now her torment.

 _The boy seemed on the verge of crying, but also happy. They hadn't seen each other as often as they'd hoped, but they still managed to see one another regularly. But now that was about to end. He'd taken some kind of test, that said he could pilot a mecha on the jump carrier under construction in orbit. They were taking him away. Away from her!_

 _But Hiro didn't seem as worried. He smiled, full of fragile confidence. "Don't cry, Zero Two! We'll see each other again, I know it. I'll be waiting for you, on the_ Bifrost _!"_

Zero Two woke back up, but her eyes stayed closed. It hurt. Ever since he'd gone, she'd known that she just had to follow him to the stars and they'd be reunited. But now that dream was dashed. She hadn't made it into the pilot program, and wasn't going to the carrier. An old nervous habit manifested itself as she started chewing on her nails again, a seething mixture of anxiety, frustration, and anger.

Eventually, the front door opened and her mother swooped in, smothering her in sympathy and a warm embrace. "Aw, baby, I heard what happened. I know getting into the program was really important to you…"

Her older sister, in her own way, showed sympathy by trying to avoid the subject. She slunk into the room behind their mother, and faux-casually dropped herself onto the couch (and onto Zero Two's feet). Picking up and toying with the remote, she asked, "Hey, 'Two, watcha watching? Didn't think you were into documentaries."

Zero Two's attention was drawn to the TV, as well. She'd chosen something random, avoiding anything she might have actually wanted to watch under normal circumstances. It appeared to be a pseudo-documentary, questioning the origins of a certain desert. "…so it's location should make it a fertile land. Despite this, and for no reason scientists have yet been able to determine, almost nothing grows here. Even compared to other deserts, the Howling Desert is virtually lifeless."

Zero Two's sister and mother continued to try to distract and comfort her, but she was barely paying attention. Her eyes had locked onto one of the shots of the desert in the show. A matching image behind her eyes was re-igniting another old feeling.

Wanderlust.

…

Cho had finally calmed down. There were no more tears, though her eyes remained somewhat red. She managed to project a smile, though obviously fake, when Hiro finally came back out. Hiro had an even more blank expression on his face than he had before his 'treatment', though his face turned to puzzlement at seeing the obvious signs of Cho's emotional state.

"Where you crying, Cho? Is something wrong?"

Cho had to clamp down on her emotions even harder not to burst into tears again. "It's… It's nothing. Let's just go back to the provisional pilot barracks." She reached for his hand, hesitated, and grabbed his forearm and started to drag him away, conveniently concealing her face from his.

…

Zero Two only looked back over her shoulder once at her home of 16 years. She loved her family, but she still had to leave. She hadn't told them that she was going, let alone where, because they would have tried to stop her, and it would have been too easy to let them. That was also why she only allowed herself one look. Leaving was harder than she'd thought it would be.

The lie she'd left in a note on the kitchen table would probably buy her the rest of the day; she'd have to be out of town before anyone realized she wasn't coming back. They'd know she'd run left when they realized what she'd taken with her.

Zero Two adjusted the straps of her backpack, containing a few essentials and prized possessions. A simple metal pendant hung from a chain around her neck; her personal good luck charm from childhood. Pulling her hat down to hide her eyes, and reduce the temptation to look back again, she briefly touched her pendant and set off. Despite the setback she had encountered the day before, she felt more confident, more sure that she was on the path that would lead her to Hiro, than she had in years.

…

Author's Notes

Yeah, I know it's cliché to have important information come up on TV by 'coincidence'. I couldn't think of a better way to pave Zero Two's path quickly, and other things I wanted to do with the scenes made having the TV be on be at least somewhat natural.

I debated a bit on using Hiro and Zero Two's names as-is; the likelihood of their re-incarnations sharing their names is low, to say the least, and Zero Two doesn't exactly come across as a 'normal' name. That's why I didn't put their names in the 'prologue' bit; I hadn't made my mind up yet. I decided to stick with them because, by necessity, this story is going to be almost all original characters; if I gave them new names as well, it'd feel like I might as well be writing something totally unrelated. I've also got a plan to make Zero Two's name seem more normal within the 'new world' that's been built. Some of the elements of that are already present; I hope they aren't _too_ subtle.


	3. Chapter 2

"Hey Hiro, don't you remember? You owe me $5!" Most of Delta (Provisional) squadron's members crowded around Hiro when he and Cho entered the cafeteria, and the taller of the two red-haired teens had, after the normal greetings were out of the way, led off with what should have been an obvious lie.

Hiro, however, slowly started reaching for one of his pockets, but Cho gentled him with a stiff hand, then turned her stern gaze upon the faintly grinning teen. "He doesn't owe you anything, Cein. Stop trying to take advantage of him."

Cein wilted slightly, but tried to deflect. "It was just a joke. Don't be such a spoilsport."

Cho quickly asserted, "It's not funny, it's just mean." Both turned toward their audience for support at almost the same time.

Cho found support sorely lacking. The still slightly smirking Kato was Cein's twin and longtime co-conspirator, so it was obvious whose side he was on. Misha at least made an attempt to look stern in mirror to Cho, but she was clearly failing to hide her own amusement. Song, from her usual position in the back of the group, shrank back even further now, hiding behind dark bangs. The last member of their small squad, Chad, hadn't even gotten up to greet Hiro. His cool gaze could be felt, and he'd acknowledged Hiro with a nod, but he'd obviously be no support to the conflict. At least Cein wasn't getting much support, either.

Giving up on the ongoing power struggle for the moment, Cho huffed and once again grabbed Hiro's wrist and pulled him to the kitchen area. Being in the much smaller Delta Squadron had its advantages and disadvantages; the other three squadrons had to deal with somewhat bland mass-produced food, but could get hot food pretty much on demand. Delta had much better options… so long as they prepared it themselves. However, in situations like their current one, they were stuck with cold or reheated food. Cho assembled a couple of sandwiches with minimal assistance from Hiro, then sat across from him at one of the tables, well away from the others. Their cafeteria was the same size as the other squad's, so a mere seven pilots didn't even come close to filling the place.

Hiro remained even more quiet than his usual self, mechanically eating his sandwich. Cho gazed at Hiro, trying to guess what was going on behind his eyes. He was always faintly enigmatic at the best of times. He'd been in Delta squad before anyone else. Sara's confirmation of Hiro's piloting potential lent strength to the long-running rumor that the squadron had basically been formed, wholly or partially, as a way to keep Hiro around, but out of the line units, while they tried to figure out what to do about him.

On top of predating everyone else in the squad, his background remained a mystery despite how long they'd been there, he rarely spoke about his past. Cho and the others knew, of course, that his 'treatments' probably contributed to his unwillingness, or potentially inability, to talk about his past.

"Hey, dreamboat, whatcha' thinking about?"

Cho jumped. Misha had slid into a seat next to her, and had caught her staring at Hiro. Then she blushed and stammered out some bland excuse, which probably merely confirmed Misha's suspicions. Despite that, the spell was broken. Misha drew her into some other meaningless conversation. Hiro seemed to recover some of his vitality as well, after eating… and used it to leave the common area and go to his room. Both Cho and Misha followed him with their eyes as he left.

Misha sighed and sunk her chin into her hands. "He is pretty cute, isn't he? I guess 'dark and mysterious' is your type, huh, Cho?"

Cho blushed furiously once again. "N-no."

"Oh, so you wouldn't mind if I made a move, then?" Misha smirked evilly.

"What?! Don't you dare!" Cho's blush transformed into a flush of anger.

Misha just laughed and waved her hand apologetically. "I was just kidding, Cho." Her face turned slightly serious, though her eyes were still bright, and she continued, "But you aren't the only one who likes the brooding type." She held up a hand to forestall Cho's protest. "Don't start, I'm almost done. I'm just saying, you need to lay claim before someone else does. Not all the girls on this ship are as nice as I am, and we don't have many friends outside our little squad who are going to stay back just for _you."_

Cho sighed. "Yeah, I know."

…

Visiting the desert in person brought its strangeness into crystal clarity. It was neither the sunbaked, hot and dry desert, nor frigid tundra. The air was somewhat dry, but it was otherwise very moderate in temperature. Which only made the total lack of life all the stranger; it seemed like the land should have been fertile.

It'd been three days since Zero Two had set out. Bus and train fares had eaten into her meager funds, and her clothes felt slightly clammy; she'd only had room to bring one change of clothes, so both sets of clothes had been worn for more than a day each, and had spent the rest of that time stuffed into a bag. Having slept in her seat wasn't doing wonders for her, either.

Things were about to get dangerous for her, though. This was the end of civilization, as far as her trip was concerned. A small rest stop along a highway crossing through part of the desert. It was the closest she could get to the time-worn crater that she'd seen.

The shopkeeper had looked at her strangely when she didn't re-board the bus before it left. When she proceeded to buy energy bars and water and started to walk away from the road, he'd run out of his store and tried to stop her, worried for her safety or sanity. She didn't think she'd fully convinced him, but she'd managed to set off nonetheless.

…

The pilots filed into the briefing room to get the days orders. Like the cafeteria, it was much larger than needed for the seven of them. They each headed for their preferred seats. Shortly after they settled in, a separate door in front of the pilot's seating opened and a man walked through. Unlike all the pilots, he was obviously an adult, and he looked far more proper in uniform than they; with his stern look and close-cropped hair, the teens before him looked like they were playing dress up in comparison.

The illusion was only enforced when the children waved at him, and Misha called out, "'Morning, Captain Septimus. What're we doing today?"

Septimus's face turned even more stony at this informality, but he replied anyway, "You will follow the standard training schedule today. You will be using Beta Squadrons Einherjar today, since they're at full readiness right now; we won't be interrupting their operations like we would with Alpha or Gamma."

Misha pouted slightly, and Cein and Kato moaned and chorused, "aww, when are we gonna get to test the Doppelsoldners again?"

Septimus relented slightly and revealed, "We're planning to run more compatibility tests with the Doppelsoldners tomorrow. We've got all four of our complement onboard now, though we haven't found any new pilot candidates recently. Don't too excited, though; tomorrows plans are not set in stone."

Even Cho had to restrain her enthusiasm at this announcement. Piloting the single-seat Einherjar mechas was enjoyable enough, but the entire reason that the teenage pilots where on the _Bifrost_ at all was because they showed the capability to pilot the two-seater Doppelsoldner mechas. For as-yet-unknown reasons, only pilots born after a certain date showed the capability to synchronize with another human as well as the larger mechs. The energy burst denoting the last battle against the VIRM was suspected to have something to do with it.

While they had yet to run into any VIRM, or other starfaring opponents, for that matter, preliminary doctrine called for the Doppelsoldner units to be the core of offensive operations.

…

Delta squadron split up for the male and female changing rooms, removing their normal uniforms and donning the pilot suits. And air- and skin-tight suit was put on first. This would provide protection against the vacuum of space. To allow them to move in a vacuum, they stepped into stalls where a powered exoskeleton was attached. Hard belts were built into the wrists, ankles, hips and shoulders of the suit, and the machinery in the stalls connected those hard-points with a flexible chain of powered reinforcements along the spine and outside of each limb.

While dressing, of course, the modicum of formality they held in front of Septimus was absent. Kato and Cein got in a rat-tail fight with their towels, and only a stern gaze from Chad kept them from attempting to drag him into it as well. They left Hiro alone as well, still slightly repentant after Cho's scolding the day before. In short order the teens trooped back out of their respective locker rooms. They formed into two parallel lines as they walked toward the lift to the other side of the ship, where Beta squadron's hangers were located. They sat in the subway-like lift car as it travelled around the carriers disk-shaped hull in the same order, drawing attention to the hole in their group. Four Doppelsoldners meant there needed to be eight pilots, but one had yet to be found. Time was running out, as well; well-worn rumor was that the _Bifrost_ would be leaving the solar system within a few months.

…

Zero Two stumbled as the ground shook. She'd already stumbled several times, but she'd put it down to exhaustion the first few times. She'd been walking for a day and a half, and only had one bottle of water left. Getting back to civilization was going to be dicey. After the first couple of times, she'd thought she noticed a faint rumble. This time, however, it was obvious. Rocks groaned, and all she could do was spread her feet and brace as first smaller, then larger rocks slid down the slope toward the center of the crater.

The first flash of real fear crossed Zero Two's mind. She sorely hoped that the volcanic crater wasn't about to become an active volcano again, with her in the center. Then, the shaking finally stopped, with an odd sense of finality. Looking around to assure herself that the earthquake, if that's what it was, was over, she saw something else. A yawning maw had opened up in the side of the crater, near the bottom. And near her. The rocks sliding around should have covered up any caves, not revealed them which, combined with the angularity of the entrance, told her that this 'cave' opening up before her was no accident of nature.

Zero Two pulled a flashlight out of her pocket, touched the pendant on her chest, and walked toward the cave entrance.

...

Entering the cave confirmed that it wasn't a cave at all, but only raised more questions in Zero Two's mind. While it obviously wasn't natural, neither did it appear to be man-made. A tunnel descended downward, and her meager flashlight was swallowed before reaching the bottom. The walls were too regular to be natural, but the marks on the walls looked more like claw marks than tool marks, as though this was the lair of some massive creature. Just to make things stranger, there was an obviously manufactured platform, complete with a handrail at the end of the level part of the tunnel, before the shallow slope.

Stepping onto the platform to try and see down the shaft, Zero Two started slightly at another rumble. Instead of another earthquake, and risk of a deadly cave-in, though, this time the source was the platform beginning to slowly descend the shaft. Exhausted mentally and physically, Zero Two sat down on the platform and leaned back against her bag.

...

Delta squad took a moment to admire the awe-inspiring view of the Beta squadron hangar when the arrived. Delta's home hangar was imposing in its own way with the sheer size of the four Doppelsoldners housed within its solemn depths, but the 36 Einherjar in ranks along both walls of hanger, and the smooth efficiency with which they were constantly coming and going had an impact all its own.

A color-coded light lead them to the mechas they were assigned for the day. As usual, they were at the far end of the hangar, furthest from the gateway to open space. The pilots split up and entered the enclosed catwalks leading to the hatches of their respective craft. Once they were situated, they hooked into their restraints, attached the interface devices to their suits, and started their activation sequences.

 _-Einherjar systems online-_

 _-Synchronizing pilot-system interface-_

 _-Releasing hardware locks. Fly safe-_

With that the Einherjar were online, free to move to their pilots wills. They remained attached to their cradles though, and a countdown appeared in each pilot's field of view. The launch queues counted down by one each time another Einherjar left the hangar, until it was finally Delta's turn. As each of them reached zero in turn, they pressed the button releasing the locks holding them to the ship and carefully maneuvered out of the bay. Aware of the dangers present around so many moving craft, the teenagers attempted to maintain the same air of cool professionalism that their hosts kept.

Chad, as usual, provided the best imitation. He'd been in training as an Einherjar pilot before he'd been tested for the Doppelsoldner program and still had closer ties to some of his companions in the other squadrons than to the rest of Delta.

Cho and Song both piloted cleanly enough, but Song's timidity showed through in that she gave wider berth than regulation required to all obstacles. Her confidence in her ability was clearly lower than her actual mastery. Hiro as well was plainly competent though unspectacular.

The other three appeared borderline jittery as they exited the hangar. Staying below the speed limit in the bay, and in the safe lanes, was obviously a challenge, not due to a lack of competence so much as a desire to drive to the limits of their craft. As soon as they cleared the hangars confines, Cein and Kato goosed their thrusters to maximum for a moment, catching up to the others faster than was strictly necessary.

Once they'd shaken down into formation, Septimus radioed them with their training plan for the day. As they split their group in half as well as they could, given their odd numbers, Cho commed Hiro. "Uh, hey. You seemed a little spaced out this morning. You up for this?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking. I had an odd dream last night."

Cho, interest piqued, pushed further. "Oh, a dream? What about? We've been training so much I've been dreaming about flying." She laughed a bit at the end of her own statement.

Hiro chuckled and replied, "Nothing like that. It wasn't anything I'd seen before... I think." He paused to concentrate his thoughts. "All I saw was a cave, and a girl. I felt like I'd seen her before, but it was... hazy, like I couldn't remember something."

Cho paled at the mention of another girl, but before she could pry further, Chad broke in, "We're approaching our designated starting point. Go to radio silence once the excersize starts."

...

Zero Two opened her eyes. It seemed she'd fallen into a nap while the elevator descended. She had no idea how long she'd been laying there, or how far down the platform had gone. The air felt heavy and mist seemed to swallow her flashlight's beam even faster than the darkness at the top of the tunnel had.

Despite this, her intuition seemed to grow to the strongest pitch she'd ever felt, with one possible exception, and she slowly walked forward. As she progressed, a faint glow seemed to emenate from the mist. Eventually she turned her light off; between the ambient light and the mist swallowing the beam, it wasn't doing anything, and she wanted to conserve the batteries. The tunnel began to open into a large chamber, and Zero Two could once again tell she had reached the end of her journey.

Again she heard a rumble, and again it was a different type. It was slow and cyclic. Her pace slowed even further at a flash of recognition. It sounded like the breathing of some creature, but so low and slow that it must be of unimaginable size.

Reaching the center of the chamber, she stopped and turned in place. Despite the mist that seemed to cover the rest of the cavern, she could clearly see the walls now. The regular pattern proved that the walls were not natural, but her train of thought crashed to a halt as one of what could only be scales moved, revealing an enormous cerulean eye, locked onto her.

Without a sound, a voice fit to make mountains tremble echoes inside her mind.

 _"What is your desire, little one?"_

...

Author's notes.

Credits to Hurricane Florence for this chapter. I wrote a good third of it at work since the servers were down most of the day (and I wrote half of it while spending the weekend away from home).

I wasn't originally planning to end the chapter here, but as things stretched on, I felt like this was as good a place to end as my original plan (which might end up being the end of the next chapter.

I'm not 100% happy with Zero Two's scenes so far; I don't think I've got the writing chops to give them the gravitas I want.

I feel kinda bad for dumping a bunch of new characters in at once, but I think it had to be done.

Let me know what's working and what isn't. The earlier I get feedback the easier it is to change things (if it's something fixable).


	4. Chapter 3

A blue orb hung faintly in Hiro's vision as he blinked himself awake, as thought he'd been staring at a bright light. Checking his clock, he saw that it was nearly time to get up anyway, so he dragged himself out of bed and cancelled the alarm before it went off. Still reflecting on this latest dream, he nearly ran into Cho as he entered the hallway, heading toward the kitchen to help make breakfast.

They bounced off each other and pushed against the wall to steady themselves. Cho laughed lightly. "Wow, odd to see you up early, huh?"

Hiro shrugged noncommittally. Cho tried to spark his interest again, "You heading to help with breakfast, too?"

This at least got a verbal response, but little more. "Yeah."

Cho sighed slightly and followed him to the kitchen.

…

"As I mentioned yesterday, we planned to run Doppelsoldner tests today. Those plans have been confirmed." Septimus managed not to visibly cringe at the cheering this deadpan announcement elicited.

The teenagers filed out of the briefing room with more alacrity than they had displayed the day before. Even the usual horseplay in the locker rooms was at a minimum, as they promptly headed back out. Since they didn't have an eighth member yet, the piloting pairs were still in flux, but the first round of tests were usually left up to the pilots. Cho quickly claimed Hiro, of course, and the twins locked high fived excitedly before rushing off to claim one of the behemoths for their testing. Chad sighed resignedly as Song quietly moved into orbit behind him. Almost in spite of his expertise with the Einherjar, his ability to synchronize with his fellow pilots remained the lowest within the squads. Song was on the low end of the squad as well, and the fact that they were consistently paired together was likely not helping their scores.

This obviously left Misha as the odd man out, but she smiled and waved Cho ahead; the squad took turns on sitting out the first round, so she'd known it was her turn before the day had even started.

Cho and Hiro settled into the cockpit of the as yet unnamed Doppelsoldner. Once permanent pilot assignments were made, the pairs would be allowed to name their units. Unlike the cockpit of the Einherjar, which was tightly built around the single pilots seat, the Doppelsoldner's cockpit was far more open. It had to be, to incorporate controls and displays visible to both pilots. The pilots' seats were next to each other, with a single extended console centered between them.

Hiro and Cho settled into their seats as the hatch closed them off from the outside world. Cho was as focused as Hiro for once, not attempting any small talk. They both grasped onto the central control yoke with one hand, with Cho studiously avoiding their hands touching. They then engaged the robot's startup sequence with their other hand, and closed their eyes.

 _-Doppelsoldner systems online-_

 _-Synchronizing pilot- to-pilot interface-_

 _-Stabilizing at 73/27-_

Cho winced slightly as Hiro's presence invaded her mind. He was by far the strongest emitter on the team, which was both a strength and his greatest weakness as a Doppelsoldner pilot. 25% was the minimum ratio to be able to remain conscious for the synchronization with the robot itself, and Hiro unconsciously pushed hard enough to put his partners near that borderline.

 _-Synchronizing pilot-system interface.-_

 _-Stabilizing at 64%-_

On the other hand, that same power meant that he and his partner would achieve a higher responsiveness from their vehicle, as well.

Calling up a display, the other pairings numbers were shown compared to theirs for Cho to review. The twins were as usual close to an optimal 50/50 with each other, but as a pair they seemed to have some difficulty pushing the envelope with the mecha itself, hovering around a 50% there as well. Chad and Song seemed to have the worst of both worlds; they'd managed a pilot imbalance nearly as bad as Hiro's, but without the system synch to back it up.

Unlike with the Einherjar, the larger mechs remained locked down. The pilot connections remained tenuous at best, and having an active mech of that size shut down could be dangerous to the pilots themselves and to the carrier, and recovering them was no simple task, either. That had advantages of its own, however, as the first simulation replaced the static view of the inside of the hangar. Simulations could create far more interesting encounters than exercises in space, and the Doppelsoldners could handle much more exciting and innovative virtual battles.

In short order, though, the first round was finished and the partner selections began again. Chad elected to sit out the next round, and, after Cho gave her a warning glare, Misha paired up with Kato and Cho with Cein, leaving Song and Hiro as the last pair. Chad pulled out his PDA and pulled up a technical manual for one of the mechas, yet again searching for a system-based solution while he waited.

…

 _"What is your desire, little one?"_

Zero Two stumbled back a step, then squared her shoulders and asked, "who… what are you?"

" _What is your desire?"_

The voice was insistent, and a dull ache began to build behind Zero Two's eyes. Looking around, was it just her imagination, or had the walls of the cavern grown closer? For the first time she could remember, a note of fear crept into her voice, "W-why do you want to know?

 _What is your desire?"_

Clearly, the creature would not answer her own questions. The pulsing in her head grew stronger, making it hard to think. Maybe if she answered, it would answer her questions, too?

"I… I want to see him again. See Hiro again."

" _What is your desire?"_

She could feel a change in the voice. It had recognized her answer. Then why was it still asking the same question? The headache became blinding. She needed to answer again. Properly. Her first answer had lacked something.

This time, she cried out clearly, "I want to be with Hiro!"

" _What do you require?"_

A brief surge of relief went through her when the creature's question changed. Her response had worked. The ache subsided slightly as well. She was compelled to continue. "I need to get onto the carrier."

That wasn't what it wanted. The pain began to ratchet up again, and Zero Two bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. "I have to get back into the Doppelsoldner program?"

She could feel that that one was almost right, but the pain grew on.

"I need to be able to pilot!"

Zero Two collapsed with a gasp as the pain vanished. Her vision cleared as well, and she could now be certain that the walls had indeed closed in on her. She could feel a massive, eternally slow heartbeat through the floor. It felt as though the creature's thoughts and she answered its next question before it could finish echoing through her mind, _"What…"_

"Anything."

"… _will…"_

"Anything!"

"… _you…"_

"I'll give up anything!" Zero Two found herself on her feet again, shrieking.

That seemed to satisfy it, and it asked what she knew was the final question.

" _Even your self?"_

Her voice sounded hoarse after shouting at the top of her lungs, but there was no hint of hesitation as she rasped out a, "Yes."

She coughed once, her voice spent. Then she felt an impact, and she coughed again, and blood spurted from her mouth. A long blue spike protruded from her chest, reaching from a gap in the wall of scales.

…

Hiro jerked upright in his bunk, shouting in distress. Coming to his senses, he looked at his outstretched hand, which had been reaching for something even in his sleep. Cold sweat covered his body, but a haze seemed to cover his mind as soon as he tried to grasp at the fading dream. All he could remember was the girl, collapsing in a boneless heap. He had scrambled out of bed and stepped into the hall before reality caught up to him. Even if this was more than a dream, there was nothing he could do. He was on a carrier in earth orbit, unable to leave. Even if he could, he didn't know where she was.

He didn't even know who she was. So why was he dreaming about her? Why did his chest feel tight seeing her in danger?

"Are you okay? Did you have another dream?" Cho appeared around the corner, hair still mussed from sleep.

Hiro blinked, jerked out of his own thoughts. Cho frowned slightly when she saw his hand drop from where it had been on his chest.

"I'm fine. Just a dream again."

"You've been having those more lately. Was… was it about that girl again?" The look on Hiro's face was all Cho needed for an answer, and her fists clenched by her side.

"Do you know who she is? Someone you knew back home?

A strange expression crossed Hiro's face, somewhat a frown, before he hesitantly responded, "Yeah, I think so."

"You _think_ so? How can you not…" Cho choked on the last of her words as Hiro looked at her levelly.

Turning to return to her own room, she gave a forcedly causual-looking wave, and told Hiro, "Try not to wake me up again, okay?" before accelerating as soon as she was out of sight.

…

While it still elicited some cheers, the excitement of doing Doppelsoldner drills for the second day in a row was not as high.

After exiting the lockers, they quickly paired off once again. It was Hiro's turn to sit out the first round, so Cho once again found herself paired with Cein, Misha with Kato, and Chad once again found himself paired with Song without her seeming to make her will known at all. Things proceeded smoothly through the first set of exercises, and Cho tried not to think about how Hiro's absence was a likely contributor to that.

The reunion for the second round involved the usual jockeying for partners. With Kato sitting out, Misha once again grinned evilly before moving toward Hiro, giving joking gesture when a glaring Cho beat her to the punch.

Hiro and Cho settled into the cockpit again, and Cho gave him a smile. "Let's see if we can beat yesterday's numbers, okay?"

Hiro seemed lost in thought, barely acknowledging her comments, so she asked, "Still thinking about that dream, huh?"

Hiro smiled sheepishly and responded with "Yeah, a little. Guess I should focus on the task at hand, right?" before quickly buckling himself in and beginning the startup proceedured.

 _-Doppelsoldner systems online-_

 _-Synchronizing pilot- to-pilot interface-_

The graphic showing their synchronization fluctuated wildly, then began to settle. But as it did, it suddenly changed to a lurid red color

 _-Abnormal synchronization detected. Pilot below threshold-_

Cho bit her lip and tightened her grip on the controls, trying for will herself toward Hiro's consciousness, towards a usable ratio.

 _-Abnormal synchronization detected. Pilot below threshold-_

No good. After the third time the computer repeated its warning, they were required to abort, and Cho gave a frustrated sigh and flipped the kill switch.

 _-Synchronization aborted, Doppelsoldner systems shutting down.-_

Septimus instructed the other two pilots to proceed with the training exercise as the two exited the robot mere minutes after entering.

Hiro bowed his head slightly. "Sorry for messing things up again."

Cho sighed and patted his shoulder, replying, "No, it's fine. I was just hoping things would stay better after your last treatment, for once."

Hiro leaned against a wall, hanging his head. "Yeah, me too. I guess I need to talk to Doctor Sara again."

Cho started to speak again, but then stopped, deciding instead to just lean against the wall next to him.

…

Zero Two's eyes opened again, which was odd. Hadn't she just died? Looking down, the spike that had impaled her was gone, but her shirt was ripped. So it hadn't been a dream. There was also a dull ache coming from her chest, and she felt between her breasts, and froze. Sitting up and pulling up her shirt, she stared at the angry red boil the size of an outstretched hand. It pulsed like a second heart, and bulging veins seemed to be spreading from it, along her skin, before her eyes. She looked around in a panic, only to find herself staring into the same massive eye. Pain stabbed through her as she stood up and faced it. "What did you do to me?"

A different voice spoke within her mind this time, with no component that she could physically hear. It sounded like a young girl, but she felt a motherly warmth within it as well, and the power behind it dwarfed that of the mountain-deep voice from before.

" _I have restored you, child."_

"W-what?" Zero Two felt like she was about to break down. This was no time for riddles.

Images appeared in her mind. A glimpse of a woman, possibly the speaker, came first. Though she had white hair and dusk-colored skin, her slight build was very similar to Zero Two's own mother. Then she saw herself, but different. The apparition was wearing a uniform that she'd never seen before, and as she watched, the image pulled off the cap it had been wearing, revealing two red horns.

" _You were fractured. Incomplete. A part of you was missing when you returned."_

"Returned? From where?"

" _Tell me, child, do you know why you seek him?"_

This was something Zero Two had considered before, but she had never found a satisfactory answer. Seeming to read her mind, the voice sounded again, _"You could not know. Your memories remain fragmented. I cannot restore them for you, you must reclaim them. Then your synthesis will reach its end."_

"What are you an 'echo' of?" Zero Two asked, but broke off at another flood of images. The strange girl, or maybe just her, and a boy just like Hiro. Together, as she was not with Hiro. As each scene flashed by, they seemed more and more familiar. When she saw them piloting some strange mecha together, she understood what the beast had been looking for in questioning her.

"So that girl, it's me. But how?" The last image, of the same dusky woman fading into light, prompted another question, "and what are you? I just saw you… die?"

" _I am but a fragment of her. When I granted those two my power, an echo of me remained behind, which is what is before you now. I felt my child's soul split from her body, piloting the great weapon, and so I held on, refusing to fade so that I could be a beacon for their souls."_

"So, I'm…" Zero Two trailed off.

" _Correct. Her soul inhabits your body. But you are fully human, and she was not. I have given you the last vestige of my essence. Knowing the VIRM where not stuck a fatal blow, I called for you, to give you the last vestige of my power."_

"Why?"

" _The two of you have defied fate twice. The VIRM are virtually unstoppable; you will have to defy it once again. But you are not ready. I ask again, why do you seek him?"_

That question again. "Because he is important to me."

" _And why is that? A boy you barely know, years ago. There is no reason the you standing before me would remain so attached. And yet you do. Look deeper. What is Hiro to you?"_

Zero Two looked down at her own hands, then recoiled. The tendrils spreading from her chest had reached her wrists, and sweat, unnoticed until now, dripped from her face and hands. Whatever gift had been given to her, it seemed like it was as likely to kill her as help her.

Despite her sweat, an icy calm settled over Zero Two. She closed her eyes, searching for the intuition that had led her there that day. That had led her to Hiro in the first place, all those years ago. Then, without opening her eyes, she found herself face to face with… herself. The horned girl she'd whose life had just been shared with her. Was it this girl that had been pulling her forward all these years? The girl smiled, and so did she, a perfect mirror of each other.

A third voice spoke in Zero Two's mind, and this time it was utterly familiar. She opened her eyes, and they flashed as though to light up the dark cavern. The angry red lines across her body faded even more quickly than they'd appeared, and the second pulsing she felt on her chest faded, or perhaps matched to her own heartbeat. She looked down again to see that her chest had returned to its original state, without even a scar to show where she'd been impaled.

Looking back up, the apparition of the last Klaxosaur smiled at her, and she smiled back. She'd found her answer, and the voice within her sang out in concert as she shouted, "He is my Darling!"

…

Zero Two felt slightly melancholy as she rode the platform back up to the surface. After her declaration, the Klaxosaur's remnant had congratulated her, and then crumbled. It felt as though she'd lost something, even though she'd only spent a short time there. She was sure, though, that with this pilgrimage she'd gained… something, which would let her prove her ability to pilot.

Reaching the entrance to the cave, she stood in stunned silence for a moment. Despite the time, according to her PDA, it was quite dark outside. Massive thunderclouds had rolled in, despite the supposed desert conditions. A light rain had already started, and it quickly escalated into a heavy downpour. A sudden urge overcame her, and she dropped her bag in the cave entrance, and leapt from the cave, letting the clean rain wash the sweat and stress away.

…

Zero Two's return trip was much shorter than the trip out, because she wasn't returning to the same place. Her goal was only to reach the nearest city, rather than returning all the way home. She wasn't ready to face her family yet, and she needed to take care of the next step; getting herself back into the Doppelsoldner program.

That presented a challenge because she'd already been tested. While she was certain that the results would be different this time, there was no way to convince the testers, or anyone else for that matter, of what had just happened to her, or how that would affect the results. Which meant she would have to take the decision out of their hands.

…

Waiting for the cover of night, Zero Two spent the last of her money on some food. She'd always had a sweet tooth, and her cravings were worse than usual. Rather than buying a meal, she ended up buying a bunch of candy. Once it was fully dark, she popped the last piece of hard candy into her mouth, and lightly crossed the street to the SDF office, virtually identical to the one in her own city. Hopefully the interior layout was the same as well. The front door was doubtlessly locked, so she walked around to the sides and rear of the building. There was a small loading dock, but the bay door was properly secured. When she got to driver entrance next to it, though, she got lucky. The door appeared closed from a distance, and had swung far enough for the timed alarm to be inactive, but the latch hadn't engaged with the doorframe, and it opened when she pulled.

Once inside, she was obviously in an unfamiliar place, well away from the paths she'd traveled in the other site, but she followed the wall past the loading dock until she found another interior door. Finding it unlocked, she quickly went through it, and found herself in a corridor. In short order, that led her to an intersection with some hallway labels. Trying to recall the route she'd been led down before without thinking about some of the other events of her last visit to an SDF facility, she set off. Despite a few short missteps, she quickly found herself before an all too familiar door.

This door was locked, with a card reader built into the handle. There was probably a security system as well. Zero Two swallowed the last of the piece of candy, then pulled a chair out of a nearby office. There was an observation window next to the door, but she'd have to act fast once she broke it. Steeling her resolve on final time, she smashed the chair into the window with all her might. Spiderweb cracks formed in the glass, but it held for the moment. With the second strike the chair broke loose from her grasp as it went through the window, and she quickly followed it onto a raised platform in the two-story room.

Searching briefly, Zero Two quickly found what she was looking for. Dashing to a central control area, she pulled on a large lever labeled 'Lights', then another indicating that it turned on the simulators. She then moved past several simulators, heading for one set apart from the others. She thought she could faintly hear sirens in the distance as she opened the hatch and slid into the mocked up cockpit.

She hesitated slightly when she looked at the controls, forced to relive one of the lowest points in her life as she recalled the startup procedure from memory.

 _-Doppelsoldner simulation online-_

 _-Emulating pilot-to-pilot synchronization-_

…

Trace was in a foul as he entered the facility. Apparently there'd been some kind of break-in. He'd been called, right after sitting down for dinner, to come in and check for sabotage or something. The police had only been there for a few minutes longer than he had.

Now he was waiting in the breakroom adjacent to the testing bay. They'd rushed him out here, then told him to sit tight while they finished searching the area. He made himself a cup of coffee, since it looked like it was going to be a long night.

He was finally allowed into the bay, once they'd confirmed that there was only one culprit. From some chatter he'd overheard, it sounded like someone had broken in to take one of the simulators for a joyride. Shaking his head, he headed for the control center to run a diagnostic before he started running physical tests. His terminal was already on, and the screen was showing the readouts from a test. It seemed whoever had broken in had turned on one of the machines, and actually managed to start a test. Trace sighed as he saw that the simulator in question was the Doppelsoldner testbed; of course they'd pick the most expensive one to potentially break.

*Clank*

Trace's coffee cup slammed into the table and some of the contents sloshed over the side, as he finally noticed the numbers from the test.

 _-Emissive capability: 28%-_

 _-Receptive capability: 87%-_

"Holy shit."

Trace turned from his desk and rushed to the nearest officer, asking where they'd taken their culprit, his earlier annoyance completely forgotten.

…

The Delta squad mates gazed around in wonder. The _Bifrost_ was busy at the best of times, but now it looked like an anthill that had been kicked. The cargo bay bustled as crates of supplies where brought onboard.

"Is the carrier getting ready to leave?" Misha asked.

Cein grinned smugly. "Oh, you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" Misha narrowed her eyes.

"They've found an eighth Doppelsoldner pilot."

Misha and Cho gasped, and Kato followed up on his brother's statement, "Now that we'll be at full complement, they're ready to take the _Bifrost_ out on its first real deployment. They know the general direction of the VIRM presence, so we'll be heading that way. Rumor is that we'll be shipping out in a week and a half. I suspect they'll tell us for sure tomorrow."

"If they're announcing the departure tomorrow, then why'd they ask us to come here right now?" Cho asked.

Chad, for once, spoke up, "Presumably they'll be introducing us to the new pilot. When we came to the bay, I saw that there was a passenger shuttle on the inbound board, among the cargo shuttles. Speaking of which…" he trailed off meaningfully as he pointed through the viewport.

A much smaller shuttle than the others currently buzzing around was approaching. It had a much more rounded design than the boxy cargo haulers, with viewports dotting the side. Everyone took a moment to gaze at it, but then turned back. Hiro's gaze lingered longer than everyone else's, attracting Cho's attention. "Hiro?" she asked, not even sure how to put her question to words.

Hiro finally turned away as well, "It's nothing, just thought I saw something for a second."

As the group speculated about the new pilot, the shuttle approached and docked. The airlock hissed as pressure was equalized between the two artificial environments, and then the hatch opened. Septimus called out, and the pilots snapped to attention. For once their latent sense of professionalism held, and they stood rigidly as several uniformed men walked through, escorting someone else, though their eyes all locked onto her. The tightly marching men walked forward, then stopped in front of the line of teenage pilots and turned to face them, and the pilots finally got a good look at the girl who would likely be joining their unit. When she turned to face them, her gaze casually wandered over them, obviously unconcerned with military courtesy.

Her eyes locked onto one of the pilots, and she started forward. One of the men escorting her tried to reach out, but she evaded it with ease.

"Hiro!" _Darling!_ Another voice shouted along with her as she leapt into the air. Cho, the other pilots, Septimus, and her escort could only watch on in stunned silence as Zero Two wrapped her arms around Hiro's body and mashed her lips against his in a deep kiss.

…

Author's Notes:

Okay, I'm still not entirely happy with my Zero Two and the last Klaxosaur bits (especially the second half), but I just had to power through it so I could get the chapter out. You should see what my first attempt looked like. It was bad enough I just moved it to the boneyard and started fresh. I will almost certainly return to this chapter when I can figure out how to do that part in a less ham-fisted manner.


End file.
